Greetings! Welcome to another edition of the Monday Gate Drop Column presented by Yamaha Motor Canada. Before we get into the news of the past week, I want to send my condolences to the family of Tyler Seguin who passed away on Saturday evening while competing at a dirt track event at the Welland Speedway. Tyler was an avid racer, rider, and a dedicated and loved family man. He will be missed by everyone, including our entire riding community. RIP Tyler!
That is obviously not how I wanted to begin this week, but although I’d never met Tyler, I wanted to pay tribute to him. Anyway, moving on to what happened out west at Round 2 of the 2025 Triple Crown Series in Cold Lake, AB. This first-time event was well received by everyone, including the residents of nearby Cold Lake. Also, seeing as the town is best known for its Military Base (CFB Cold Lake) this round of the Triple Crown Series was dedicated to our Military and teams all came up with some special graphics for this race. It was a great way to honour our Military, and considering the world celebrated D-Day on Friday, racing in Cold Lake this past weekend was extra special.
As we’ve witnessed in the past, going to a new track to race a Pro National is also risky. In some cases, it’s worked very well and everyone leaves happy, or at very least satisfied. At other times, it ends up not working out very well and the series doesn’t return to that particular track. However, with the Wild Rose MX Track possibly going away after the 2026 season, the Triple Crown Series needs as many new tracks in the West as possible, so heading to Mason Watt Raceway in Cold Lake was necessary, and I think it worked out very well. Considering this was a first-time event at this track, the entire crew deserves a lot of credit for being able to pull it off. I thought the track got better as the day went on, and I’m quite sure everyone learned a lot about how the track reacted to having a full day of national racing on it. I think the layout could use a few tweaks for next year as the track this weekend had too many switchback sections that just ended up getting one lined. Also, as exciting as it is for the fans, I don’t think a national track needs a massive jump on it. With the modern-day bikes being full of so many moving parts and electronics, they can easily stop running with little or no warning. Yes, the jumps yesterday were relatively safe, they still don’t need to be there. As I said, with a few small tweaks Mason Watt Raceway could be really good moving forward, and I think it could be a stop on the Triple Crown Series for years to come. Now to the racing!
Heading into Round 2 of the 450 class, both of our top riders suffered a hard crashes last week while practicing, and that led them to enter this weekend banged up. Of the two, Dylan Wright was the worst off as when he crashed last week, his first thought was that he broke his elbow. The discomfort was bad enough that he flew out to Alberta a day early and headed straight to Jim Fredrickson’s clinic in Red Deer. If you recall, Dylan spent a few days with Jim after his big crash last year in Lethbridge. Jess Pettis by all accounts, injured his wrist slightly in his mid-week get off, so both riders were less than 100% heading into Sunday. It is a little strange to me that both of our top riders flew home from Calgary after their heated two moto battle, did their usual recovery on Tuesday, and then both had crashes which led to them not feeling great as they headed back out west. Were they still a little fatigued mentally from their race in Calgary, were they trying to practice a little harder than normal in order to get that little edge heading into Round 2, or was it just bad luck at the practice track. Either way, it’s unfortunate, and thankfully we don’t see that very often. As I mentioned, Pettis was banged up before the gate even dropped yesterday, Wright was really sore with a messed up elbow, yet both riders went out and put on quite a show at the first-ever Cold Lake National. Pettis looked like his normal self out there, while Wright was his usual awesome self for a few laps, before the pain of his elbow set it. If this was a sand track and you could ride the bike with your legs more, then I think Dylan would’ve been okay yesterday for an entire moto. But, since it was a hard packed and rutted track, you really needed to use your upper body, and in particular your arms to ride the bike, especially while exiting the corners. This was probably the worst case scenario for Wright as he soldiered through both motos yesterday. Then, to make matters even worse, in the early stages of moto two, while chasing Pettis, Wright suffered a mechanical issue on his CRF450R that was related to an after market part, and was forced to DNF. So, like last year, Pettis will now head east with a 28-point lead over Wright in the 450 class (in 2024 he left Round 2 with a 27-point lead), and a 15-point lead over WLTN Kawasaki rider Phil Nicoletti, who actually sits in second overall in the points standings. Phil was a solid third OA in Calgary and backed that up with a second OA yesterday. Phil has been good thus far in the 450 class, but he will need to find some speed to run with Pettis and Wright when the series resumes in three weeks. Tanner Ward also had his best finish of 2025 yesterday as he came home with a solid third OA. Also, Quinn Amyotte once again rode great in his rookie 450 season, as he once again finished fourth OA.
So, what will the 450 series look like when it heads to the Sainte-Julie track in Quebec on June 29th? Well, let’s assume that Dylan’s elbow will be healed up and he’ll be back to at least close to 100%. If the 2025 Triple Crown Series was headed to Gopher Dunes for the first east round, as it has for so many years, I would give Wright the clear advantage to go 1-1 and make up six points on Pettis. In my opinion, there are only a few riders who can straight up beat Dylan at Gopher Dunes, so if I’m Pettis and I’m sitting with a points lead of over 20, I’m making sure I finish at least second, and doing what I can to try and stay close and perhaps Dylan makes a mistake. However, the series will first stop in Quebec and the riders will once again be racing on hard packed and rutted track. Also, for a few years Pettis lived just down the road from the Sainte-Julie track, so if anyone has this place dialed in, it’s him. Also, as we’ve witnessed in the opening two rounds, the defending champ excels on these types of surfaces. If I’m Pettis, even though he’s entering Round 3 with 15 points on Phil, and 28 points on Dylan, I’m staying aggressive and I’m doing whatever it takes to at very least go 1-2 on the day at Round 3. As I said, with Dylan’s two best tracks (Gopher Dunes and Sand Del Lee) coming up after Sainte-Julie, Pettis definitely doesn’t want to give back any points at Round 3. On the other side of the paddock, if you’re Dylan, the plan of attack has now become fairly straight forward. With a 28-point deficit and 12 motos remaining, he needs to approach the next six rounds with tempered aggression. I say tempered simply because Dylan doesn’t need to go full ‘Dylan Wright beast mode’, risking perhaps another big get off. He just needs to pick away at the points, take it one moto at a time, and not panic until there is something to panic about. Once the Sand De Lee round is over, assess the situation and then decide what the strategy is going to be for the final six motos of the series. If you’re Pettis right now, you’re obviously happy with how the first two rounds went, if you’re Dylan, you’re probably happy that things aren’t as bad as a year ago, but you’re still pissed off at being 28 points down again, but if you’re a fan of the Triple Crown Series, you’ve been loving every minute of the 2025 series, and you cannot wait to see what happens in the east!
In the 250 Pro/Am class, we are witnessing a heavy weight battle between Preston Kilroy and Ryder McNabb. Heading into the final moto yesterday, Kilroy had won all three motos to start the series, while Ryder, who was the favourite to most coming in, had simply not been able to get his GDR Honda in front of Kilroy’s MX101 Yamaha and keep it there. But that all changed at the start of the final moto yesterday when McNabb got out front on the opening lap and never looked back. Kilroy, who got off to his worst start of the series so far, was unable to find any flow early, and by the time he got around Dylan Rempel, McNabb was long gone. From what we’ve seen so far between these two, the battle in the east is going to be intense as both appear to have their own strong attributes. So far, I feel like Kilroy is a better natural starter, and on the track his precision and smoothness rival any rider we’ve seen on Canadian soil. As for McNabb, I love his raw speed and determination, and I think at the end of day he believes deep down that he’s better than Kilroy. Whether he is or not remains to be seen, but it’s sure going to be fun to watch these two in the final 12 motos of the series. WLTN Kawasaki rider Dylan Walsh continued his solid riding with another podium finish yesterday. The New Zealand rider is still suffering the effects of a serious back injury he received last month, but he’s been doing what he can to stay in the points battle. Dylan Rempel also had a great ride yesterday as he brought home a solid fourth OA, his second in as many races. Blake Davies was a solid fifth OA, and rookie rider Cole Pranger had his best ride of the young season by finishing sixth OA. I think most of the top riders in the 250 Pro/Am should be happy with where they stand after two rounds. I say most because MX101 Yamaha rider Sebastien Racine had a tough day yesterday. After running inside the top five in the early stages on moto one, Racine suffered a mechanical issue and was forced to DNF. He did return in moto two and finished up with a solid 5th, but it was not the day he was looking for. After two rounds, Racine is a staggering 48 points behind his teammate Kilroy in the series standings. I certainly didn’t see this coming as Racine was supposed to be a title contender in the 250 Pro/Am class. As much as the DNF has most likely squashed his title hopes, Racine’s pace in the motos he has finished wasn’t exactly what I though it should’ve been. He does ride the eastern tracks better, so hopefully he can run up front in the next few races and either win motos, or at least help his teammate by finishing in between he and McNabb. Perhaps, if Racine can do this in the next five rounds, then for Walton the MX101 Yamaha Team gives him a 450 to go out and prove himself in that class?
Finally, how about Katrine Ferguson dominating the Thor WMX Series and taking home her first-ever Championship. After improving her riding and race craft for the past several seasons (remember last summer Katrine lived and trained with Eve Brodeur), she entered the the 2025 Thor WMX as one of the favourites to win the title. Fresh off her first year of University and a few trips down south to ride over the winter, Katrine launched out of the starting gate at the opening round last weekend in Calgary and never looked back, winning every moto in the three-round series. It was an amazing performance and one that the Ferguson Family will celebrate upon returning to their home in Manitoba this week. After that, Katrine and her sisters will head east once again to compete in the WMX East Series, the ECAN, as well as the Walton TransCan.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week, and I hope all of our moto Dads have a great Father’s Day this coming Sunday. Finally, my pick for this week’s Rider of the Week goes to Guaranteed Comfort Honda Racing 450 rider Tyler Shewchyk. It turns out that Tyler’s late father served at CFB Cold Lake for over a decade as a member of the 4 Wing Squadron. I had the pleasure of meeting his Dad and riding with him several years ago at Steve Shore’s track near London, Ontario. He was very nice man, and it was sad to hear that he passed away recently. Tyler went 17-13 yesterday for 15th OA in the 450 class, and during both motos I’m sure he could feel his Dad watching over him and also appreciating the Triple Crown Series honouring him, and the rest of the Military. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please email me at editor@mxpmag.com.
